The Swan Song
by Devianta
Summary: My last multichapter fic. Danny faces Vlad as a full ghost, but this isn't the normal competition. This time it's for control of the world.
1. The Grim Reaper

A/N: This is going to be my last mult-chapter story for this phandom so enjoy it while it lasts. I plan on having it incorporate all the ideas I wanted to explore in detail but either never got around to or I tried to and stopped because I didn't like how it was going. So hopefully it will be good despite how much I'm going to try to shove into it. I hope all of you like what I'm going to be working on. Oh, and one more thing before I go on to the regular disclaimers. I don't know how often I'm going to be able to update this. I'm hoping to update each Friday, but more than likely it will be every other Friday like most others on here. Okay? Okay.

So, I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. I don't own the song Whisper. Evanescence does. I wished I owned both of them though because Danny Phantom is the best TV show ever and Whisper is a totally cool song.

Please Read and Review this. I worked really hard on it. Thank you and enjoy my last multi-chapter story.

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The Grim Reaper

_Catch me as I fall_

A fairly small black dot fell out of the sky trailing a smoky tail behind it. It seemed to fall slowly, resignedly, as if it had given up the fight already. The small crowd that had gathered to watch gasped in horror. Some screamed. Some cried. Some shouted encouragements. Two teens, a boy and a girl, ran forward toward the slowly falling dot.

_Say you're here and it's all over now_

The girl reached the fallen dot first. She looked down into a smoking crater to find that the dot had been a black and white clad boy. His short white hair was singed; his eyes were closed. A small pained breath escaped his parted lips as he lay prone in the hole.

"Danny!" the girl shouted as she skidded down the side of the crater to kneel next to the boy.

"Sam! Is he okay?!" asked the boy standing at the lip of the pit.

The girl, Sam, shook her head. "Call the Fentons! We have to get help for him NOW!"

"Oh, it's too late for that," a cruel voice gloated.

_Speaking to the atmosphere_

"No it's not!" retorted Sam. "Just you wait, Vlad! Danny will be fine and you'll pay for what you did!"

"Sam…" moaned a weak voice.

Sam turned away from Vlad to look at the boy on the ground. She carefully picked him up and held him in her arms. "Danny? Danny, can you hear me?"

"Sam…" he moaned again, his voice gradually getting softer.

"Danny!" she said again, as if yelling his name might revive him.

Vlad crossed his arms over his chest. "It's too late for him, girl. He can't hear you. Face it, he's dying. His mind is far away from here."

_Speaking to the atmosphere_

_No one's here and I fall into myself_

"No, no. He'll be fine. He's always fine," Sam murmured to herself. She brushed a few stray locks of hair from Danny's face and busied herself with trying to stop the flow of ectoplasm from a wound on his side.

"Sam! They're coming!" the boy yelled down to her. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Really?" Vlad asked with interest. "Good. They'll be here to see him die… and the father will join him."

"Shut up!" Sam snapped at the villain. She then motioned for the boy to join her. "Tucker, help me!"

Tucker slid down the side and joined her next to Danny. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and stared worriedly at his best friend.

"He's lost a lot of ectoplasm. I don't know if…" she refused to finish the sentence.

_This truth drives me into madness_

"He'll be fine. We just need to stop the bleeding," she said after a moment.

"How?" asked Tucker.

"We need to make a tourniquet. Or a bandage. Or anything that'll stop the ectoplasm," she answered, frantically looking around her for anything she could use. Eventually her eyes fell on Tucker's shirt. "Give me your shirt."

"Why…?" Tucker started to ask but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. He wordlessly pulled his shirt over his head and handed it to Sam.

"He'll be fine," she whispered to herself as she ripped Tucker's shirt into strips which she tied around Danny's body. "He'll be fine. He always is."

_I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away… If I will it all away_

"Come on, Danny," Sam muttered once she was finished. She shook the unconscious boy's shoulder slightly. "Come on. Wake up."

"Give up, girl! It's no use," Vlad said condescendingly.

Sam and Tucker ignored his taunts. They stared anxiously at their friend while holding his hands, waiting and praying for him to wake up.

_Don't turn away. Don't give into the pain._

"Ah! And here are the Fentons now!" came the predatory comment as the sound of a large moving vehicle became loud and close. The evil half ghost began to hover as the vehicle came closer. Once it was in a few feet from him his hand began to glow ominously. "And now the real fun begins" and with those words he blasted the RV.

The blast hit and caused the RV to do a complete three sixty. As it came to a stop, large guns and other weapons emerged from its metal hide and aimed at the vampiric half ghost. Unfortunately the ghost was faster than the machine as he managed to get in several blasts before any of the weapons fired.

"We have to help them," Tucker said to Sam as he watched the battle.

"But we can't leave Danny. If we move Vlad might attack Danny. We have to stay with him," Sam argued.

"He's going to hit us anyway!" Tucker argued back as he looked up and saw Vlad towering over them.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Danny squeezed his eyes shut even more.

_Don't try to hide. They're screaming your name._

Sam tightened her grip on her dying friend.

"Oh don't worry, girl," Vlad said while rolling his eyes.

Sam narrowed hers.

Vlad grinned sickeningly. Suddenly his hand darted out, aiming a blast at her, Danny, and Tucker. "You're going to die with them."

As the blast powered up, Danny slowly opened one emerald eye.

_Don't close your eyes. God knows what lies behind them._

He slowly managed to get his clouded vision to focus. Once he did he quickly opened his other eye and stared up at his impending death.

_Never sleep, never die_

But he was saved from having to suffer it right then. It was delayed as a single, solitary blast struck the ghost down before he could unleash his attack.

Danny shifted his gaze to the source of his rescue. It was his mother.

"Are you kids alright?" she asked without looking at them.

"Yeah," Sam and Tucker answered together.

"But they won't be for long," Vlad interrupted as he stood back up from where he had fell. He grinned menacingly at Danny's mother. "And neither will your current husband, sweet Maddie."

"You swine," she answered him, continuing to train her weapon on him.

"You won't be thinking that for much longer either," he replied before unleashing a blast at her husband. The man fell.

"Jack!" she yelled as she watched the orange man fall head over heels into the pit where he landed next to the three teens. He didn't move.

Vlad cackled. "So you see, my dear. It won't be long now."

Maddie shook with anger and sadness as she stood there, torn between firing shot after shot at her former college friend and running down into the crater to check on her husband. After a few seconds she decided on option B.

"Uh, uh, uh!" Vlad said mockingly as he aimed a powered up attack at the three teens. "Move and I'll kill them."

Maddie froze where she was, at the edge of the crater, and turned her head to look at the person she despised most now. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want, my love," he replied. "I want you."

Maddie looked back down into the pit, at her child and his friends, and at her husband. Two of them lied unmoving in that grave.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut again, this time in pain.

_I'm frightened by what I see, but somehow I know that there's much more to come._

Maddie didn't move. She stood and stared at her family and friends, unsure of what to say or do. She didn't want to join Vlad but there were so many lives at risk. If she didn't go with him they would die, but she couldn't help thinking that there had to be another way out.

_Immobilized by my fear and soon to be blinded by tears_

_I can stop the pain if I will it all away_

_If I will it all away_

"Well? What are you going to do, my love?" Vlad asked.

Danny opened his eyes again and stared up at his mother. Weak, but nevertheless willing to fight for his family and friends, he tried to lift a hand.

_Don't turn away. Don't give into the pain._

A sharp pain went through his whole body. He sucked in a breath and tried again. His arms, hands, feet, and legs wouldn't move.

He was the only person who could save them.

_Don't try to hide. They're screaming your name._

Tears of pain and frustration prickled at his vision. He wanted so badly to help them…

But he was in so much pain and exhaustion. But he needed to fight. He had to stop Vlad from hurting anyone else. It was his duty. It was his responsibility. It was his job.

_Don't close your eyes. God knows what lies behind them._

He had to stay alive for them.

_Never sleep, never die_

"You won't hurt them?" Maddie finally asked.

"Oh, of course not, so long as you join me that is," Vlad said smoothly.

"Don't do it Mrs. Fenton!" Tucker yelled up to her as she took one last look at them.

"Silence boy!" Vlad roared. "Come here, my love. I won't hurt them if you join me."

Maddie slowly, reluctantly walked over to him. He grinned as she neared him.

"No!" Tucker yelled as Maddie placed her hand in Vlad's.

Without looking, Vlad blasted the boy to his death.

Danny watched in shock as his best friend fell to the ground dead… and noticed for the first time that his father was dead too.

_Fallen angels at my feet_

His breaths became short and fast as the full realization of what was happening hit him. His father was dead. His best friend was dead. His mother was being forced to join his worst enemy. He was dying and powerless.

A sharp unforgiving pain clutched his heart. His eyes rolled back in his head.

"Give up," whispered a voice.

_Whispered voices at my ear_

A shadowy figure rose up from the ground of his blackened vision. It wore a cloak made of night and it's voice sent chills down Danny's spine.

"Give up. It's time for you to leave."

_Death before my eyes_

_Lying next to me I fear_

"I can't leave," Danny told it. "Not yet. They need me."

"Danny?" Sam said as she heard his hoarse voice. "Danny?"

_She beckons me. _

"Your time is up, Danny. You know that," Death said in a monotone voice.

Danny looked behind him.

_Should I give in?_

"Will I become a full ghost?"

Death, though Danny couldn't see his face, seemed to stare right into his pain filled eyes. He nodded.

"I'll be able to come back?"

Another nod.

_Upon my end shall I begin_

"I'll come."

Death raised his scythe.

_Forsaking all I've fallen for I rise to meet the end_

The scythe came down fast and, before Danny could so much as blink, tore through him, ending his life. He didn't even get a chance to scream.

_Don't turn away. Don't give into the pain._

_Don't try to hide. They're screaming your name._

_Don't close your eyes. God knows what lies behind them._

_Don't turn out the lights. Never sleep, never die._

Sam screamed as she felt Danny die in her arms. Maddie screamed as she realized her only son had died in the arms of his girlfriend. Both screamed as they realized that they had been powerless to save him or any of them. Neither gave a thought to themselves and what they were about to go through.

_Servatis a pereculum. Servatis a maleficum.  
_

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A/N: So, did you like it? Whether you did or you didn't I would greatly appreciate it if you pressed the little blue button that says 'Go'. I want to know what you think (without the flames please). Thank you and I hope you stick around for the next chapter! 


	2. A New Era

A/N: Well, I was going to wait until later to start writing the remaining chapters, but then I kept getting ideas and I wanted to write them down. So, here's the next chapter. Yes, it's short. It's very short, but trust me when I say that it is way more startling than what I wrote in the last chapter. You will probably shoot me for writing this. So please read and review!

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A New Era

One Year Later

"Ugh, this no longer amuses me. Take him away," King Phantom groaned as he sat cross-legged on his throne. As he watched the prisoner, who had just been tortured for his amusement, dragged away by his ghostly tail, King Phantom pushed his crown back up on his head with the tip of his pinky finger. He sighed. Who knew being the king of the Ghost Zone could be this hard… hard in the sense of boring?

"Sir?" asked a nervous voice.

King Phantom raised one eyebrow. When the puny ghost before him failed to speak King Phantom growled. "What?"

"Uh…"

The ghost stammered, fiddled with his overalls, and bit his fingernails.

The king's growl deepened. "And you were always so eager to bother me before, Box Ghost. Well, actually you're bothering me now and, more importantly, wasting my time!"

The ghost stuttered and quaked in his boots. Uh… Um… I... was… wondering… if… you… uh… could… um… give… my boxes… uh… that is… uh… me… a uh… um… new… warehouse?" The last word came out as a squeak.

King Phantom suddenly smiled and leaned forward. "You know what? I think I'll do better than that."

The Box Ghost's eyes widened with happiness and curiosity. "Really?"

King Phantom nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I'm going to give you a whole new box!" The boy king snapped his fingers. Two guards came forward behind the Box Ghost. "Guards. Would you be so kind as to introduce the Box Ghost to his casket? Make sure they're well acquainted by the time they leave."

The guards nodded. The Box Ghost's face paled. The guards grabbed the Box Ghost by his arms and dragged him away as he screamed. "No! No! Nooooooooooooo!"

He was never heard from again.

King Phantom leaned back into his throne again. His emerald eyes wandered, studying his court for what might have been the millionth time since he was first crowned King of the Ghost Zone. They lighted on his golden throne, gilded and bejeweled with emeralds. They traced the beautiful silver lines that swirled, curled, and danced across the ballroom floor. They stroked the black velvet curtains that blocked out the ghostly light that emitted from outside the castle. They soared up into the air and studied the crystal chandeliers that hung in rows from the entrance to the throne room to almost directly overhead the King's throne. Finally, they crawled up and down the bodies of his subjects. There were so many that the young king was able to busy himself with this for awhile.

How many were there anyway, the king asked himself. Probably hundreds. There was all of his old enemies and then a bunch of ghosts he only met recently and then there were a good many ghosts he never met before.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand running down his arm to his thigh. King Phantom smiled and purred in delight at the new form of entertainment.

"Bored, my King?" asked a light, seductive voice.

The ruler sighed contentedly as the entertaining gesture became more personal. "Not any more, Ember, my love."

Ember moved around the throne and sat on King Phantom's lap. She stroked his cheek and lightly kissed his pure white hair. "I'm glad I can please you."

The boy tilted his head back and kissed her lips. "The pleasure is all mine."

They were interrupted by a slight coughing sound. "Excuse me, Your Highness."

King Phantom looked up at the intruder. He smirked as he saw who it was and wrapped his arm around Ember. "What do you want, Skulker?"

Skulker's eye twitched, but he kept control of himself. "I have a message for you, Sir."

"Really? And what might that be?" asked the young ruler as he leaned his head on his mistress' chest.

The messenger ground his teeth slightly before speaking. "It's from Clockwork. He said to beware of the past."

King Phantom narrowed his eyes. " 'Beware the past'? Sounds more like something the Box Ghost might say. Is that all?"

Skulker nodded.

"Are you sure you didn't mishear his words?"

Again, Skulker nodded.

"Hmmm…" the King hummed in confusion as he contemplated the message. Then as the soft stroking of his hair dominated his thoughts he hummed more out of pleasure than anything else. "You're dismissed Skulker."

"Thank you, my King. It is a pleasure to serve you," Skulker said stiffly before turning and flying off.

"The pleasure is all mine," King Phantom moaned in luxurious pleasure. "It's all mine."

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A/N: You're going to shoot me aren't you? Well, don't say I didn't warn you about the shock factor! Please review! 


	3. A Road Diverged Thrice

A/N: You'll be happy to know that one, this is longer than my last chapter, and two, this is an explanation chapter. I'm sorry that there isn't much dialogue though. But it does make some things much clearer so, it's all good. And that's really all I have to say. Please read and review! Let's get this story going!

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A Road Diverged Thrice

Tucker's Story

"Am I doing this right, Clockwork?" Tucker asked his master as he stood in the center of his room with his new time staff, trying desperately to set the clock that was embedded into the piece.

His master looked over and scanned the dials and knobs that controlled the clock. After a moment of examination he nodded before going back to his work.

Tucker sighed. He knew what he was doing was right, becoming Clockwork's apprentice and all, but he wished that his master would speak a bit more. Being a master of time could get lonely… but his friends needed him to do this. One wasn't himself lately and the other was trapped in more ways than one. Then there was the matter of the world… but that was another story entirely. At least it was another story for now. It wouldn't be later. Later all the stories and timelines and stuff would end up together and at that moment he would be needed. Someone had to play Danny these days.

"You're spinning it too far," Clockwork said suddenly.

Tucker looked up and glanced at the Time Master. The ghost hadn't even looked up from his time staff. Tucker looked back at his and noticed that he had spun the minute knob too far. He quickly adjusted it. "Is this good?" he asked once he completed the task.

"Yes," Clockwork answered. "You're getting better at this, but you have to pay attention more. You let your thoughts wander too often."

"Okay, sorry," the pupil said as he floated over to the viewing screen. It was time for the second part of the lesson.

"I know you are, but you learn from your mistakes and that is what makes the difference.

"Now," Clockwork said as he turned to face his student who stared up at the viewing screen with a look of apprehension. "You know what this is."

His teacher had said as a statement, but Tucker felt the need to nod. So he did… and wished that he could skip this lesson. He already knew what he would see.

"You don't need to fear the future and you shouldn't. What's going to happen will happen. There's nothing you can do to stop it even though you exist outside of time now," the teacher lectured.

"But you stopped the future once," Tucker argued. It was true. He had stopped Danny's parents, sister, Sam, and him from dying in the Nasty Burger explosion.

"Some things are meant to happen," Clockwork replied simply.

Tucker gave the ghost a sideways look. What he said didn't make any sense. If you can't stop something then how is what you did, what you couldn't change and yet did, meant to be?

"You will find that out for yourself," Clockwork said as he more or less read the boy's thoughts. "Now turn on the viewing screen."

Tucker did as he was told, raising his staff high above his head and pointing it at the circular screen. It flashed white then gray then assorted scenes from Earth and the Ghost Zone began playing. Tucker blinked as he watched thousands of lives and places pass before his eyes. It was more than he wanted to know.

"Stop," Clockwork said. Tucker raised his staff again and froze an image on the screen. It was of his former friend ordering the torture of yet another helpless ghost. "You came to me to save your friend."

"Yeah," the student said softly. He gripped his time staff tighter as he looked into those malevolent green eyes. They were never meant to hold that expression.

"You know what will happen."

"I do."

"Then everything is as is should be."

Sam's Story

Floors are hard to scrub when you're crying twenty four seven (whether anyone sees you or not), you haven't slept since the day both of your best friends died, and all you have is a toothbrush to do the job with. Other than that the task was easy since it required mindless work. Sam didn't have to think about it. It was merely a matter of doing. She didn't care that she was now a slave to her worst enemy. She didn't care that she hadn't seen Mrs. Fenton since the day Vlad brought them both to his mansion. She didn't care that she was in constant physical, mental, and emotional pain. She was past all of that. Her life was worthless now and all she cared about was how long would it take her metaphorical clock to stop ticking. All she ever wanted was to die. However, Vlad didn't make it that simple.

No, he could control what she did and didn't do. He could monitor her actions and prevent her from ending her own life. All he had to do was press and button. She hated him.

At first she had tried to outsmart him. She tried to trick him. She tried to sneak around him. All of her efforts were in vain. In the end he won. He got what he wanted. He got to torture her until she didn't even make a noise to show that she was indeed alive physically. The good news was that her mind wasn't that far from the land of the dead. She wasn't that far from Danny.

King Phantom

He didn't remember. He didn't remember how he died. He didn't remember anything before the moment he woke up in the Ghost Zone at the center of the ballroom, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. As far as he was concerned, he hadn't existed before that moment. And, like all other ghosts, he didn't care about 'before'. All he cared about was 'now'.

What did he want now? He wanted to be in control. He liked the idea of being king. The occupation was boring, but it had its perks. He could have anything he wanted. If he wanted food he was given it. If he wanted attention, that was his too. If he wanted someone to disappear forever, they disappeared forever. Everyone and everything was his to command. He earned that right all by himself.

When he first woke up in the Ghost Zone he had been all alone. There was nobody. He knew nothing about himself or the world he was in. All he knew was what he wanted, company. He wandered through the endless abyss of the realm until he found Skulker. Skulker seemed to already know him and was surprised when Phantom didn't automatically recognize him. Eventually, after some explaining, Skulker understood the situation. Thus, he tried to skin Phantom. The good news was that Skulker failed. The bad news was that both of them, and everyone else who heard about it later, discovered just how powerful Phantom was now that he was a full ghost. They discovered that he was capable of destroying whole chunks of the Ghost Zone. They found out that he could do that and more and not even become tired. They learned that he was too powerful.

To appease the new ghost, they made him their king. They served him and his every whim. Whatever he said went. Whatever he wanted they gave. They feared him. He liked that. Why change a good thing?

With this new ruler, came a new era: the reign of King Phantom. Order was brought to the hapless, chaotic world known as the Ghost Zone. Everyone had a job and a purpose now. There were rules and those rules were enforced. There were cities, towns, and other such things now. There were events and gathering places. There were names and there were numbers and there were things that ghosts simply had to know now. This was the new afterlife. The past was gone forever. This was the reign of King Phantom.


End file.
